APPLICATIONS OF

SECOND ORDER DES

Motivation
 (1) VIBRATING SPRINGS

We consider the motion of an object with mass

m at the end of a spring that is either vertical or
horizontal on a level surface.
Hooke’s Law states that:
If the spring is stretched (or compressed) x units from its
natural length, it exerts a force that is proportional to x:
restoring force = –kx
where k is a positive constant, called the spring constant.

If we ignore any external resisting forces (due to air resistance

or friction) then, by Newton’s Second Law, we have:
d 2x d 2x
m 2  kx or m 2  kx  0
dt dt
This is a second-order linear differential equation.
 (2) DAMPED VIBRATIONS

Now, we consider the motion of a spring that is subject to either: A

frictional force (the horizontal spring)
A damping force (where a vertical spring moves through a fluid)

dx
damping force  c
dt

An example is the damping force supplied by

a shock absorber in a car or a bicycle.
The DE modeling this system is:

d 2x dx
m 2  c  kx  0
dt dt
 (3) ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

Consider an RLC circuit that contains in series:

An electromotive force 𝐸 (supplied by a battery or generator)
a resistor 𝑅 , an inductor 𝐿 , and a capacitor 𝐶
If the charge on the capacitor at time t is 𝑄 𝑄 𝑡 , then the
current is the rate of change of 𝑄 with respect to t: 𝐼 𝑑𝑄/𝑑𝑡
The DE describing this system is
dI Q
L  RI   E  t 
dt C

d 2Q dQ 1
L 2 R  Q  E t 
dt dt C
Example 1 A spring with a mass of 2 kg has natural length 0.5 m. A
force of 25.6 N is required to maintain it stretched to a length of 0.7 m.
If the spring is stretched to a length of 0.9 m and then released with
initial velocity 0, find the position of the mass at any time t.
Solution
From Hooke’s Law, the force required to stretch the spring is:
𝑘𝑥 𝐹. So, k(0.2) = 25.6. Hence, k = 25.6/0.2 = 128.
Substituting that value of the spring constant k, together with m = 2 in the
DE we have:
𝑑 𝑥
2 128𝑥 0
𝑑𝑡
the solution of this equation is:
𝑥 𝑡 𝑐1 cos 8𝑡 𝑐2 sin 8𝑡 0.7
0.9

We are given the initial condition: x(0) = 0.2.

It follows that 𝑥 0 𝑐1. Therefore, 𝑐1 0.2.
Since, 𝑥′ 𝑡 – 8𝑐1 sin 8𝑡 8𝑐2 cos 8𝑡
and the initial velocity is given as, 𝑥′ 0 0
we have 𝑐2 0. So, the position of the mass at any time t is:
𝑥 𝑡 0.2cos 8𝑡
 DAMPED VIBRATIONS
Now, we consider the motion of a spring that is subject to either:
(a) A damping force (where a vertical spring moves through a fluid)
(b) A frictional force (the horizontal spring)

An example is the damping force

supplied by a shock absorber in
a car or a bicycle.


١١
We assume that the damping force is proportional to the
velocity of the mass and acts in the direction opposite to the
motion. This has been confirmed, at least approximately, by
some physical experiments.
Thus, dx
damping force  c
dt
where c is a positive constant, called the damping constant.
Thus, in this case, Newton’s second law gives:
d 2x dx
m 2  restoring force + damping force  kx  c
dt dt
2
d x dx
or, m 2  c  kx  0
dt dt
The last DE is a second-order linear differential equation.
Its auxiliary equation is: 𝑚𝜆2 𝑐𝜆 𝑘 0.
The roots are:
c  c  4mk
2
r1 
2m
c  c  4mk2
r2 
2m
we need to discuss three cases.
 CASE I — OVER DAMPING
c2 – 4mk > 0, in this case, 𝜆1 and 𝜆2 are distinct real roots. The
solution of the DE is in the form: 𝑥 𝑐 𝑒 𝑐 𝑒

Since c, m, and k are all positive, we have: c 2  4mk  c

So, the roots 𝜆1 and 𝜆2 must both be negative. This shows that
as t → ∞ the displacement x → 0. Typical graphs of x as a
function of t are shown.

c1 and c2 both are positive 𝑐 and c2 have

or both are negative
opposite signs

Notice that:
For which possible values of c1
(1) oscillations do not occur. and c2 can you have this case?
(2) It’s possible for the mass to pass through the equilibrium
position once, but only once (c1 and c2 have opposite signs )
١٤
.
 CASE II — CRITICAL DAMPING

c2 – 4mk = 0

This case corresponds to tow equal roots 𝜆 𝜆

 ( c / 2 m )t
The solution is given by: x(t )  (c1  c2t )e

It is similar to Case I, and typical graphs resemble those in the

previous figure. Still, the damping is just sufficient to suppress
vibrations. Any decrease in the viscosity of the fluid leads to
the vibrations as in the following case:
 CASE III — UNDER DAMPING
c2 – 4mk < 0

Here, the roots are complex: 𝜆 ,𝜆 𝜔𝑖 where

4mk  c 2

2m
The solution is given by:
x = e–(c/2m)t (c1 cos ωt + c2 sin ωt).
We see that there are oscillations that
are damped by the factor e–(c/2m)t.
Since c > 0 and m > 0,
we have –(c/2m) < 0. So, e–(c/2m)t → 0 as t → ∞.
This implies that x → 0 as t → ∞.
That is, the motion decays to 0 as time increases.
Example 2 Suppose that the spring of Example 1 is
immersed in a fluid with damping constant c = 40. Find the position of the
mass at any time t if it starts from the equilibrium position and is given a
downward push to start it with an initial velocity of 0.6 m/s.

Solution From Example 1, the mass is m = 2 and the spring

constant is k = 128. So, the differential equation becomes:
d 2x dx d 2x dx
2 2  40  128 x  0  20  64 x  0
dt dt dt 2
dt
The auxiliary equation is: r2 + 20r + 64 = (r + 4)(r + 16) = 0
with roots are – 4 and –16. So, the motion is over damped,
and the solution is:
x(t) = c1e + c2e
– 4 t – 16 t C 2 = 4mk

C = 32

What is the value of c which makes the

motion critical damping?
We are given that x(0) = 0 (since it started at equilibrium
position).
So, c1 + c 2 = 0 (1)
Differentiating x(t) we get: x’(t) = –4c1e–4t – 16c2e–16t
Since the initial velocity is 0.6 m/s, then
x’(0) = –4c1 – 16c2 = 0.6 (2)
Solving (1) and (2) we get c2 = – c1, this gives:
12c1 = 0.6 or c1 = 0.05, c2 = 0.05
Therefore, the position of the mass at any time t is give by
x(t) = 0.05(e–4t – e–16t)
 FORCED VIBRATIONS
Suppose that, in addition to the restoring force and the
damping force, the motion of the spring is affected by an
external force F(t).
Then, Newton’s Second Law gives:
2
d x
m 2  restoring force  damping force
dt
 external force
dx
 kx  c  F  t 
dt
So, instead of the homogeneous DE we obtained before, the motion of
the spring is now governed by the following non-homogeneous
differential equation:
d 2x dx
m 2  c  kx  F  t 
dt dt
A commonly occurring type of external force is a periodic force
function:
F(t) = F0 cos ω0t , where ω0 ≠ ω = k / m
In the absence of a damping force (c = 0), we can solve the above DE
to get
F0
x  t   c1 cos  t  c 2 sin  t  cos  t
m    0 
2 2

Notice that: If ω0 = ω, then the applied frequency reinforces the

natural frequency and the result is vibrations of large amplitude. This
is the so called resonance phenomena.
 ELECTRIC CIRCUITS
It is known from physics that the voltage drops across the
resistor, inductor, and capacitor, respectively, are:
dI Q
RI L
dt C
In an RLC circuit as shown in the figure we have:
An electromotive force E
(supplied by a battery or generator)
A resistor R
An inductor L If the charge on the capacitor at time t
A capacitor C is Q = Q(t), then the current is the rate
of change of Q with respect to t:
I = dQ/dt
Kirchhoff’s voltage law says that the sum of these voltage
drops is equal to the supplied voltage:

dI Q
L  RI   E  t 
dt C
Since I = dQ/dt, the equation becomes:
2
d Q dQ 1
L 2 R  Q  E t 
dt dt C
This is a second-order linear differential equation with
constant coefficients.

If the charge Q0 and the current I0 are known at time 0, then

we have the initial conditions: Q(0) = Q0 , Q’(0) = I(0) = I0
Example 3 Find the charge and current at time t in
the shown RLC circuit if: R = 40 Ω, L = 1 H
C = 16 X 10–4 F, E(t) = 100 cos 10t
Initial charge and current are both 0

Solution With the given values of L, R, C, and E(t), The DE

of the circuit becomes
2
d Q dQ
2
 40  625Q  100 cos10t
dt dt

M Amer 2011 ٢٣
The auxiliary equation is r2 + 40r + 625 = 0 with roots

40  900
r  20  15i
2
So, the solution of the complementary equation is:
Qc(t) = e–20t(c1 cos 15t + c2 sin 15t)
For the method of undetermined coefficients, we try the
particular solution Qp(t) = A cos 10t + B sin 10t
Then,
Qp’ (t) = –10A sin 10t + 10B cos 10t

Qp’’(t) = –100A cos 10t – 100B sin 10t

Substituting into the given DE, we have:

(–100A cos 10t – 100B sin 10t) + 40(–10A sin 10t

+ 10B cos 10t) + 625(A cos 10t + B sin 10t) = 100 cos 10t
or
(525A + 400B) cos 10t + (– 400A + 525B) sin 10t
= 100 cos 10t
Equating coefficients, we have:
525A + 400B = 100, – 400A + 525B = 0
or
21A + 16B = 4, –16A + 21B = 0
Solving for A and B we get: A = 84/697, B = 64/697
So, a particular solution is:

Qp  t   1
697  84 cos10t  64sin10t 
The general solution is:

Q  t   Qc  t   Q p  t 
e  c1 cos15t  c2 sin15t 
20 t

 697
4
 21cos10t  16sin10t 
Imposing the initial condition Q(0), we get:

Q  0   c1  84
697 0 c1   697
84

To impose the other initial condition, we first differentiate to

find the current:
I
dQ

dt
 e 20t  20c1  15c2  cos15t   15c1  20c2  sin15t 
 697
40
 21sin10t  16 cos10t 
Thus,

I  0   20c1  15c2  640

697 0 c2   2091
464

So, the formula for the charge is:

Q t  
20 t
e 
4   63 cos 15t  116 sin 15t  
3
697  
   21 cos 10t  16 sin 10t  
The expression for the current is:

I t  

1
e 20 t
 1920 cos15t  13, 060 sin 15t  
 
120  21 sin 10t  16 cos 10t  
2091

In this example we notice that, the solution for Q(t) consists of
two parts.

Since e–20t → 0 as t → ∞ and both cos15t and sin15t are

bounded functions,

Qc  t  
4
2091 e 20t  63 cos 15t  116 sin 15t   0
as t  
So, for large values of t,

Q  t   Qp  t 
 4
697  21 cos 10t  16 sin 10t 
For this reason, Qp(t) is called the steady state solution.
The figure shows how the graph of the steady state solution
compares with the graph of Q.
Comparing the equation of the RLC circuit with that of the
forced spring, we see that, from the mathematical point of
view, they are identical.

2
d x dx
m 2  c  kx  F  t 
dt dt

2
d Q dQ 1
L 2 R  Q  E t 
dt dt C
This suggests the analogies given in the following chart
between physical situations that, at first glance, are very
different.
 Challenging
Problems

Problem
An 8 pounds weight stretches a spring 2 ft. Assuming a
damping force numerically equal to two times the
instantaneous velocity acts on the system, determine the
equation of motion if the weight is released from
equilibrium position with an upward velocity of 3ft/sec.
Find the maximum height of the spring above the
equilibrium position. Is it possible for the spring to reach
the equilibrium position at any finite time? Explain.

Solution
 4t
x(t )  3te
xmax  0.276ft above the equilibrium position